Dazed And Confused

There is an article in today’s Wall Street Journal about the number of different toothpastes for sale today.  It’s mind blowing!  According to the article 69 new toothpastes were introduced last year.  This is down from 102 the year before.  The focus of the article was all the confusion this has caused consumers when shopping for toothpaste.  Could the live event and entertainment industry ever have this problem too?

I don’t see us ever putting out that many shows that are so similar at the same time but I do think we need to be careful.  In the concert business we tend to bunch tours all into the same time of the year.  Summer is a perfect example.  Before anyone writes me, I am a big fan of summer shed shows!  I grew up with them!  However, if one venue books too many concerts with the same music format isn’t it possible we could have a toothpaste problem?

Let’s look at the family show business.  In the past I have marketed Ringling Bros. Circus at the same time that two other circuses were on sale in the same town.  Even though my show had the biggest brand name, doesn’t all the circus shows get hurt? 

What about the same brand name with several different themes?  We have this happening all the time.  I live in a TV market that has more than two cities as part of the market.  I have seen TV spots for the same brand name of a show but with a different theme running at the same time.  Is it possible that the consumer could get confused?

If the toothpaste companies can come up with 100 different versions, why can’t they just blend them into one great toothpaste?

The Battle Continues And Technology Wins!

I was wondering when I would hear about AEG battling back in the ticket wars.  There was no way they were going to let their competitor Live Nation control their tickets.  In today’s Wall Street Journal there is an article about AEG getting into the biz.

AEG has teamed up with Outbox Technology to sell tickets in all of their venues. This is about 105 venues.  Outbox is being led by Fred Rosen.  For all you young marketers out there, he is the man who made Ticketmaster huge in the 80’s and 90’s.  At the time, he was one of the most powerful guys in the live entertainment business.  Looks like he is on his way back!

AEG teaming up with Outbox is a good thing.  It is good for venues, promoters, and the public.  This is what the Justice Department hoped would happen.  Competition is always good.  While I’m not sure how this will affect ticket fees and service charges, I do believe this will advance ticket technology.  It will improve the way our customers can buy tickets.  This world today is all about the customer experience.  Anything that helps the experience is worth it. 

Ticketing today is so different than the old days.  When I first started in the business, most venues did not have Ticketmaster or Ticketron.  Most used “hard” ticketing.  This was paper tickets that were printed at a ticket printing company.  Each event and performance had to be printed separately with every seat printed.  You then had to count every single ticket to make sure they were all there.  Then you “racked” them and sold them. Think about 10 performances of just one family show. You either sold them in person or on the phone.  If you wanted to use an outlet, you had consignment tickets at the outlet.  You hoped they would account for them correctly.  At the end of every event or performance you had to count all the unsold tickets to make sure the money and the drop count matched. 

Aren’t you glad with have today’s ticket technology?

PR Stunts Are Back

Well, they never went away but they are back in fashion again.  I’m not surprised in this “WOW” world we live in.

I have always been a big fan of PR stunts and events.  Maybe it’s because I grew up around them.  My dad may still be known as the king of PR events.  He made a great career of promoting something by an event that always drew media attention.  He reminded me recently of when some of his crazy stunts didn’t work.  He still got press!  PT Barnum once said “there is no such thing as bad PR”.  Even his stunt failures were still huge successes.

There is an article in today’s Wall Street Journal about brands getting into the Guinness Book of World Records.  Guinness has even created a new division to help companies accomplish this. In the 21^st century world of YouTube and viral marketing, brands want that exposure and buzz.

When I worked for Feld Entertainment in the 1980′s, they were still known for creating great PR stunts and events.  Who can forget the famous Ringling Bros. elephant manure giveaways?  When that event needed to kick it up a notch, they went one step further.  “Someone” stole the manure in one city.  This turned into national media attention.  I still remember Jay Leno talking about it.

All of us in the event & entertainment business have potential PR events and stunts all around us.  Our business is tailor made for them.  I understand that in today’s world of marketing measurement, it’s hard to account for their results but these events do sell tickets.  Many of the best events don’t cost a lot of budget.  They only require your imagination.

Follow Me, Follow You

So the good news is that most of us in the event & entertainment business are now using social media to market.  You have joined Twitter and Facebook.  You might have thousands of friends, fans, and followers. But are you following them?

What makes social media different from the old fashion marketing & PR is two-way communication.  Not only can you get your message out but your fans can communicate back to you.  But are you listening?

Having friends, fans, and followers is not a collection.  You should not be gathering them like a kid collecting Pokémon cards.  They are more than a database.  They are real potential customers who want to be a part of your world.

I read an article in today’s Wall Street Journal about how Gatorade has a full time people searching the web for mentions of Gatorade (I bet they just found this blog).  They are looking for what people are saying about them.  They are looking for online conversations to join. They understand this is 21^st century marketing.

On my Twitter page, I have currently have over 1,100 followers and I follow most of them.  I look for people who fit my interests. I do read many of their tweets because I want to know what they are saying.  In my case I’m not looking for them to say things about me but what they are saying that influences the event & entertainment industry and the culinary world.  These are my two passions.

If you’re a venue, why not use social media to help book your events.  Ask your fans, friends, and followers what they would like to see at your venue.  If an event does not sell well, why not ask them why they didn’t buy a ticket?

Communication is a two-way street.  We finally have marketing tools that make it possible.  Make it work for you.

If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

There are two articles of interest to the event & entertainment marketing community in today’s Wall Street Journal.  

Anybody want a slightly used ticketing system?

The WSJ article states that Live Nation Entertainment is being sued by European ticketing company CTS Eventim for breach of contract.  After I read the article I was still confused but here is what I think is the issue.  Before the merger with Ticketmaster, Live Nation wanted its own ticketing system and cut a deal with CTS to compete with TM.  This was the Live Nation ticketing system.   Now that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are one and the same LN does not need a ticketing system and CTS is suing.  I don’t know enough about this to really comment.  However, you got to believe that Live Nation and Ticketmaster had a plan on how to deal with the disbandment of LN’s ticketing system?

Michael always liked the circus

The other article of interest in today’s WSJ is the deal being cut between Michael Jackson’s estate and Cirque du Soleil.  The always thinking live entertainment company is going to produce a themed show on Michael’s music.  Kind of like the Beatles themed show in Las Vegas.  The plan is to produce two shows.  One will be an arena show that will travel and the other will have a home at the MGM Mirage in Las Vegas.  I think this is a really smart move for both parties.  The shows will keep the MJ brand moving and Cirque will sell lots of tickets.  I hope to hear more about this from Cirque at the Event & Arena Marketing Conference in June.

Rock Star Chefs

If you want to know why I am going to culinary school and continuing my career in event & entertainment marketing, just pick up today’s Wall Street Journal. Go to the front page of the Weekend section and see the headline and huge article. The headline reads: Rock-Star Chefs.

As I always say, event & entertainment marketers need to stay up on the trends. We need to give the people what they want. Right now they want food!

The article discusses how celebrity chefs are filling up venues that have been previously reserved for music acts and other traditional live entertainment. Guess what, they are getting big bucks for their tickets and it’s selling.

Of course the Food Network is a big reason for the surge in live culinary events. But it also takes people becoming interested in culinary. Everybody likes food. Everybody has to eat. Now make it exciting and entertaining and you have a win.

I have witnessed the “rock star” type show some of these culinary stars are doing. At the Great American Food & Music Festival the chefs were the stars. When the music acts played the main stage the crowds were small. When Bobby Flay hit the stage the crowd surged and the audience cheered and screamed as if Bon Jovi was playing. Guy Fieri’s show was a rock show. It came complete with loud heavy medal rock music, lights, and live flame on stage (they hired a separate Fire Marshall just for that part).

This is a dream come true. All my working life I have always wanted to merge my entertainment marketing career with my passion for food. Now it’s happening.  Let’s cook up some great culinary entertainment together!

Have a great weekend!

The Friday Doubleheader

The customer experience is worth its weight in gold

My friend Doak Turner sent me an example of a good and bad customer experience with his new iPhone.  He bought his new iPhone at the Apple Store.  He asked them if they could transfer his contacts from his old phone to his new phone.  They told him that he would have to have AT&T do this.  He went to AT&T and for some reason they couldn’t do it.  They sent him back to Apple who still could not transfer them.  While at Best Buy buying a charger, he asked them if they could help with the contact transfer.  Within minutes the task was completed. 

As soon as I read his email I said, “Wow, Apple’s customer service has really gone south”.  This is not the first time I have heard or noticed Apple’s decline in the customer experience.  I remember when everyone raved about their service. 

Right after I read his email, I read Seth Godin’s blog today titled Spare No Expense.  Coincidently, the take away from the post is that if you train your customer to expect a great customer experience and then pull back on this you will amplify the bad experience.

As event & entertainment marketers we need to remember that we are in the discretionary dollar business.  Our customers buy our tickets to be entertained and provide an escape.  They expect and deserve a great customer experience.  They may need to buy a mobile phone but they don’t need to see our events.  When you budget for the event, make sure you also spend the money on the customer experience.

Project Showtime?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that two years ago Ticketmaster considered buying up some of the biggest ticket brokers to counter Live Nation.  Of course this was all prior to the merger of LN and TM.  The name of this secret project was called “Project Showtime”.  First off, is that the best name they could come up with? 

Can any of you imagine what would have happened if they had proceeded with this project? The article claims that one of the reasons this deal didn’t happen is because none of the interested parties trusted each other.  Really, what a surprise!

The article states that Ticketmaster actually did an experiment last year with the Van Halen tour.  They pulled tickets from 20 Van Halen concert dates and gave them to the brokers.  The money was split 70 -30.  The 30% went to the brokers and the 70% was split between Ticketmaster and the band.

Why is this article coming out today?  I can’t see Ticketmaster or Live Nation wanting this out right now. The Justice Department is in the middle of reviewing the merger and this revelation can’t help. 

 Have a great weekend!

Customer Experience: A Tale Of Opposite Stories

In Monday’s Wall Street Journal there was an article titled “Companies Strive Harder to Please Customers”.  This was music to my eyes and I read it immediately. 

In the article they discussed how companies have come to the realization that current economic conditions call for better customer satisfaction. I can’t believe it took this long to figure that out. The companies they highlighted included Sprint Nextel, Cheesecake Factory, US Airways, and Southwest Airlines.  This was a nice mix.  I consider two of them having a good reputation for customer experience and two who don’t. 

All four of them know that customers have choices and beefing up the satisfaction can be the difference.  For Nextel it was rewarding customer service people for solving a customers issue on the first call.  Cheesecake Factory is enhancing the service they provide while waiting for a table.  US Air is fixing its missing baggage issue.  This is a great idea since they charge you for baggage.  Southwest now offers free call-back from their call center if wait times are too long. 

All of this made me happy until yesterday when I realized not everyone is on the good customer experience bandwagon.

I received a text message from Verizon Wireless letting me know that at least one of my family phones had data usage charges.  Verizon Wireless has a phone store called Get It Now.  They also place apps on your phone that are demos.  What they are not clear about is they charge you for checking them out.  My kids phones don’t have a data plan.  They don’t need one.  They are offering customers to check out their products and then charge them to enter the store.  They place demo apps on the main screen of the phone and tell customers to try it “free”.  Without a data plan you are charged for the data usage to try it “free”.  Don’t they make money from customers buying apps, games, and ringtones?  Why would they charge you for looking?    The customer service person agreed with me. However, he said that the “fine print” explains they will charge you.  When is the last time a teenager or most adults ever read the “fine print”? The customer experience is not about the “fine print”. 

Being upfront with your customers is always the best customer experience.

The Future Of Sports Biz?

The NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the other day.  What happens next could change the business of sports. 

According to today’s Wall Street Journal the NHL is fighting to take control of the team while in Bankruptcy.  Team owner Jerry Moyes has cash flow issues due to his primary business, Swift Transportation.  He does have someone who wants to buy the team. This would be Research In Motion (Blackberry) founder James Balsillie.  If he is able to buy the team he wants to move it to Hamilton Ontario.  Hamilton happens to fall in both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabers markets.  Of course the NHL is against this move.  They want the team to stay in Arizona. They don’t want three teams that are less then 50 miles from each other.

The big battle is this bankruptcy thing.  The NHL may not have any power over a team that files for bankruptcy. The courts take over and usually look for offers that bring the most money to the table.  They don’t care what the league thinks.  With many sports teams doing very poorly right now, this could really shake things up in major league sports. 

Ironically, the four major league sports commissioners took part yesterday in the WSJ sports panel on the future of sports.  After reading the highlights, the one area that did not get a lot of press was ticket sales.  I believe this may be one of the most important discussions.  Instead, questions ranged from fighting in sports to the future of newspapers.  Isn’t the Wall Street Journal a business newspaper?  Yes, they discussed how the economy was affecting current sales but they didn’t delve into how they plan to market tickets in the future.  David Stern (NBA) thinks they are handling the economic downturn fine.  He discussed how his teams are working hard on sponsorships, suite sales, club seats, and season tickets.  He didn’t discuss how they market the thousands of “other” seats that Joe Six-Pack buys. 

I’m sorry but this is the big problem with sports marketing.  The sports marketing methods of the 1980′s and 1990′s do not work today. I understand how much money is involved in sponsorships, club seats, premium seats, and suites.  But are they not noticing what is happening around them?  Have the watched a Yankees game on TV recently? 

Major league sports teams have forgotten about the average fan.  I am talking about the average fan that can afford average tickets.  These teams play in venues with thousands of seats.  In many cases they are not going to be filled by corporate premium seat holders and sponsorships.   Why can’t major league teams put marketing effort back into the basics of the business, putting butts in seats?

The Mother Of All Mergers

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a merger of epic proportions is about to happen. 

The merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

Holy Shit!  I did not see this coming.  But then again with what has been happening in this business for a while and the players involved namely Irving Azoff and Michael Rapino I guess I should not be surprised.  If you think about it, this has been slowly building for a while.  I have been writing about the battle of these two since the fall. I did say that it would come to head at some point.  My first post on these two was back in September and was named “Earthquake in the Ticket World”.  If that was the earthquake then this must be a nuclear bomb blast.

The first reaction from most people is “no way this will pass antitrust”.  Don’t be so sure on that.  Both of these companies did not get where they are from being stupid.  I am sure they thought about that several times.  I am sure they have that all covered.  There first argument will be that the music industry has changed so much that these types of deals are the only way they can survive.  This was already hinted at in the article.

The two biggest questions that need to be asked are:

1) How does this affect all of you in the event & entertainment business?

2) How does this affect the ticket buying customer?

I am not too sure this is a win-win for either.  Do we want no competition when our customers can’t afford to see a show now?  What happens to Live Nation’s new ticket system? 

Of course this deal is still not been officially announced nor have the boards of either company voted on it yet.  But let’s be honest, you know they leaked this to the WSJ for a reason. 

As I stated back in September, let’s sit back, grab a popcorn and watch this Hollywood story take place.